OMPA transmission line work continues in Osage area

On Wednesday, Dec. 6, Ponca City Energy customers in Osage County experienced power outages, due to electrical maintenance being performed on the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority transmission line that runs to the Kaw Dam Hydro facility.  Several poles are being changed out and a high-voltage switch required repair.

For this work, the transmission line has been de-energized; however, the circuits that feed the customers are still live.  For the safety of the workers, all automated power restoration had to be disabled.   This condition, called “one-shot”, means that the circuit will not automatically re-energize after a power fault.

Normally, a simple power fault such as one caused by a squirrel or tree limb results in a very short blink.  With the “one-shot” protection, a fault causes the power to turn off and then Ponca City Energy personnel have to respond to re-energize the circuit.  This response takes time.

At 10:03 a.m., a broken ground wire fell across an energized wire and the power was out for 23 minutes until personnel could determine that it was safe to restore.  At 3:49 p.m., the circuit tripped again (probably due to a squirrel or limb) and was off for 17 minutes.  Again, at 4:11 pm the circuit tripped (probably due to a squirrel) and was off for 14 minutes.  At 5:01 pm, the “one-shot” was removed so that automated power restoration would be available during the night.

Today, Thursday, Dec. 7, the maintenance work will resume and automated power restoration will be disabled.  Similar outages could occur.  The work should be completed before the end of the day and the system will be returned to normal.

For more information, please call Ponca City Energy at (580) 767-0405.